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rcs(1)

NAME

       rcs - change RCS file attributes

SYNOPSIS

       rcs options file ...

DESCRIPTION

       rcs  creates  new RCS files or changes attributes of existing ones.  An
       RCS file contains multiple revisions of text, an access list, a	change
       log,  descriptive  text, and some control attributes.  For rcs to work,
       the caller's login name must be on  the	access	list,  except  if  the
       access  list is empty, the caller is the owner of the file or the supe-
       ruser, or the -i option is present.

       Pathnames matching an RCS suffix denote RCS files;  all	others	denote
       working	files.	Names are paired as explained in ci(1).  Revision num-
       bers use the syntax described in ci(1).

OPTIONS

       -i     Create and initialize a new RCS file, but  do  not  deposit  any
	      revision.   If  the RCS file has no path prefix, try to place it
	      first into the subdirectory ./RCS, and  then  into  the  current
	      directory.   If the RCS file already exists, print an error mes-
	      sage.

       -alogins
	      Append the login names appearing	in  the  comma-separated  list
	      logins to the access list of the RCS file.

       -Aoldfile
	      Append  the access list of oldfile to the access list of the RCS
	      file.

       -e[logins]
	      Erase the login names  appearing	in  the  comma-separated  list
	      logins from the access list of the RCS file.  If logins is omit-
	      ted, erase the entire access list.

       -b[rev]
	      Set the default branch to rev.  If rev is omitted,  the  default
	      branch  is  reset  to  the  (dynamically)  highest branch on the
	      trunk.

       -cstring
	      Set the comment leader to string.  An initial ci, or  an	rcs -i
	      without  -c,  guesses  the comment leader from the suffix of the
	      working filename.

	      This option is obsolescent, since RCS normally uses the  preced-
	      ing $Log$ line's prefix when inserting log lines during checkout
	      (see co(1)).  However, older versions of	RCS  use  the  comment
	      leader  instead  of  the	$Log$ line's prefix, so if you plan to
	      access a file with both old and new versions of RCS,  make  sure
	      its comment leader matches its $Log$ line prefix.

	      Lock  the  revision with number rev.  If a branch is given, lock
	      the latest revision on that branch.  If rev is omitted, lock the
	      latest  revision	on the default branch.	Locking prevents over-
	      lapping changes.	If someone else already holds  the  lock,  the
	      lock is broken as with rcs -u (see below).

       -u[rev]
	      Unlock  the  revision  with  number  rev.  If a branch is given,
	      unlock the latest revision on that branch.  If rev  is  omitted,
	      remove  the  latest lock held by the caller.  Normally, only the
	      locker of a revision can unlock it.  Somebody else  unlocking  a
	      revision breaks the lock.  This causes a mail message to be sent
	      to the original  locker.	 The  message  contains  a  commentary
	      solicited  from  the  breaker.   The commentary is terminated by
	      end-of-file or by a line containing . by itself.

       -L     Set locking to strict.  Strict locking means that the  owner  of
	      an RCS file is not exempt from locking for checkin.  This option
	      should be used for files that are shared.

       -U     Set locking to non-strict.  Non-strict locking  means  that  the
	      owner  of  a  file  need	not lock a revision for checkin.  This
	      option should not be used for files that	are  shared.   Whether
	      default  locking is strict is determined by your system adminis-
	      trator, but it is normally strict.

       -mrev:msg
	      Replace revision rev's log message with msg.

       -M     Do not send mail	when  breaking	somebody  else's  lock.   This
	      option  is  not  meant  for casual use; it is meant for programs
	      that warn users by other means, and invoke rcs -u only as a low-
	      level lock-breaking operation.

       -nname[:[rev]]
	      Associate  the  symbolic	name  name with the branch or revision
	      rev.  Delete the symbolic name if both : and  rev  are  omitted;
	      otherwise,  print an error message if name is already associated
	      with another number.  If rev is symbolic, it is expanded	before
	      association.   A rev consisting of a branch number followed by a
	      . stands for the current latest revision in  the	branch.   A  :
	      with  an empty rev stands for the current latest revision on the
	      default	branch,   normally   the    trunk.     For    example,
	      rcs -nname: RCS/*  associates name with the current latest revi-
	      sion  of	all  the  named  RCS  files;   this   contrasts   with
	      rcs -nname:$ RCS/*  which associates name with the revision num-
	      bers extracted from keyword strings in the corresponding working
	      files.

       -Nname[:[rev]]
	      Act like -n, except override any previous assignment of name.

       -orange
	      deletes ("outdates") the revisions given by range.  A range con-
	      sisting of a single revision  number  means  that  revision.   A
	      range consisting of a branch number means the latest revision on
	      that branch.  A range of the form rev1:rev2 means revisions rev1
	      to rev2 on the same branch, :rev means from the beginning of the
       -sstate[:rev]
	      Set the state attribute of the revision rev to state.  If rev is
	      a branch number, assume the latest revision on that branch.   If
	      rev  is  omitted,  assume  the  latest  revision	on the default
	      branch.  Any identifier is acceptable for state.	A  useful  set
	      of  states is Exp (for experimental), Stab (for stable), and Rel
	      (for released).  By default, ci(1) sets the state of a  revision
	      to Exp.

       -t[file]
	      Write  descriptive text from the contents of the named file into
	      the RCS file, deleting the existing  text.   The	file  pathname
	      cannot  begin  with -.  If file is omitted, obtain the text from
	      standard input, terminated by end-of-file or by a line  contain-
	      ing  . by  itself.  Prompt for the text if interaction is possi-
	      ble; see -I.  With -i, descriptive text is obtained even	if  -t
	      is not given.

       -t-string
	      Write descriptive text from the string into the RCS file, delet-
	      ing the existing text.

       -T     Preserve the modification time on the RCS file unless a revision
	      is  removed.   This  option can suppress extensive recompilation
	      caused by a make(1) dependency of some copy of the working  file
	      on  the  RCS  file.   Use this option with care; it can suppress
	      recompilation even when it is needed, i.e. when a change to  the
	      RCS  file  would mean a change to keyword strings in the working
	      file.

       -V     Print RCS's version number.

       -Vn    Emulate RCS version n.  See co(1) for details.

       -xsuffixes
	      Use suffixes to characterize RCS files.  See ci(1) for  details.

       -zzone Use  zone  as the default time zone.  This option has no effect;
	      it is present for compatibility with other RCS commands.

       At least one explicit option must be  given,  to  ensure  compatibility
       with future planned extensions to the rcs command.

COMPATIBILITY

       The  -brev  option  generates  an RCS file that cannot be parsed by RCS
       version 3 or earlier.

       The -ksubst options (except -kkv) generate an RCS file that  cannot  be
       parsed by RCS version 4 or earlier.

       Use rcs -Vn to make an RCS file acceptable to RCS version n by discard-
       ing information that would confuse version n.

       RCS version 5.5 and  earlier  does  not	support  the  -x  option,  and
       requires a ,v suffix on an RCS pathname.

FILES

       rcs  accesses  files much as ci(1) does, except that it uses the effec-

DIAGNOSTICS

       The RCS pathname and the revisions outdated are written to the diagnos-
       tic output.  The exit status is zero if and only if all operations were
       successful.

IDENTIFICATION

       Author: Walter F. Tichy.
       Manual Page Revision: 1.5; Release Date: 1999/08/27.
       Copyright (C) 1982, 1988, 1989 Walter F. Tichy.
       Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Paul Eggert.

SEE ALSO

       rcsintro(1),   co(1),   ci(1),	ident(1),   rcsclean(1),   rcsdiff(1),
       rcsmerge(1), rlog(1), rcsfile(5)
       Walter F. Tichy, RCS--A System for Version Control,  Software--Practice
       & Experience 15, 7 (July 1985), 637-654.

BUGS

       A  catastrophe  (e.g.  a  system crash) can cause RCS to leave behind a
       semaphore file that causes later invocations of RCS to claim  that  the
       RCS  file  is in use.  To fix this, remove the semaphore file.  A sema-
       phore file's name typically begins with , or ends with _.

       The separator for revision ranges in the -o option used to be - instead
       of  :,  but this leads to confusion when symbolic names contain -.  For
       backwards compatibility rcs -o still supports the old - separator,  but
       it warns about this obsolete use.

       Symbolic  names	need not refer to existing revisions or branches.  For
       example, the -o option does not remove symbolic names for the  outdated
       revisions; you must use -n to remove the names.

GNU				  1999/08/27				RCS(1)

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